By Isaac Eranga
Connected Advocacy for Empowerment and Youth Development Initiative, a non-governmental organization registered in Nigeria, has called on the Nigerian government to declare a state of emergency on unsafe and irregular migration, saying uncounted number of lives have been lost through the process.
Speaking under the auspices of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the Executive Director of Connected Advocacy, Prince Israel Orekha said unsafe migration has brought perpectual pains to the lives of many who have relatives that have died through irregular migration. He opined that the total number of human trafficking victims outside of Nigeria is largely unknown.
According to Prince Orekha, “Nigeria remains a transit and destination country when it comes to human trafficking. According to the Global Slavery Index Report of 2018, Nigeria ranks 32/167 of the countries with the highest number of slaves – 1,386,000 – and the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) reports that the average age of trafficked children in Nigeria, now upgraded to a Tier 2 country on the U.S. State Department’s Trafficking In Persons Report (2019), is 15.
“75% of those who are trafficked within Nigeria are trafficked across states, while 23% are trafficked within states. NAPTIP report shows that only 2% of those who are trafficked are trafficked outside the country. It is the third most common crime in Nigeria after drug trafficking and economic fraud.
“Reports show that Edo State is the most trafficked through destination in Africa, and that the overwhelming majority of trafficking victims and migrants make the treacherous journey from Edo State (particularly Benin) and Delta States to Kano, from where they are smuggled into Niger or Algeria before traversing 500 miles over the Sahara Desert into Libya.
“According to IOM, in July 2018, over 60,000 Nigerians remained trapped in Libya, with 50% of them hailing from Edo State. NAPTIP, in its 2018 Report, confirms that the largest number of victims rescued outside of Nigeria were rescued from Libya and are from Edo State.
“In Libya, migrants are held in detention camps, generally for several weeks to months, before they are placed in unseaworthy dinghies or boats on the Mediterranean Sea. According to IOM, there are approximately 356,000 IDPs (as of November 2019) and 636,000 refugees and migrants in Libya (as of January 2020), the country from which a large percentage of migrants attempt the journey into Europe. Organ trafficking has been on the rise in Libya.
“Edo State has long been an internationally recognized sex trafficking hub, with built in infrastructures and networks which support the sale of human bodies. According to IOM report, an astounding 94% of all Nigerian women trafficked to Europe for prostitution hail from Edo State, with Italy being the number one destination country.
“In fact, a 2003 United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute Report concluded that ‘virtually every Benin family has one member or the other involved in trafficking either as a victim, sponsor, madam or trafficker.’
“The souls and bodies of survivors are turned into commodities for financial gain while the survivors themselves are held in debt bondage, severely abused (often gang raped and physically assaulted), starved, tortured or infected with various sexually transmitted diseases before being deported back to Nigeria. Others who are victims of organ trafficking are murdered and never make it back to Nigeria.
“According to information gleaned from hundreds of repatriating survivors of sex trafficking in Edo State, poverty remains the number one factor rendering women and girls vulnerable to sex trafficking. However, additional factors such as parental pressure, eroded mindset/values, cultural acceptance of prostitution, limited education and economic opportunities combine to render young women and girls vulnerable to being trafficked.
“From the foregoing, we are calling on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Edo State government in particular, to declare a state of emergency in order to contain this scourage of unsafe abortion. We of the Connected Advocacy, are ready to render the necessary assistance. We cannot fold our hands and watch our generation being swallowed by the Arabian desert and the Mediterranean Sea. The time to act is now”, said Prince Israel Orekha.
Prince Orekha however lauded the the current Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, for launching the Edo State Task Force Against Human Trafficking to fight the scourge of human trafficking and unsafe migration in the State
